Olle F

I'n not a big fan of modern cars, but that's one I would like to build! I really like the intimidating looks, it has "I gonna get ya" written all over it. First one I saw was an Oklahoma Highway Patrol cruiser, and it was almost scary to see it in the rear view mirror... like an angry animal or something.

I recycle some household stuff too. One of my favorites is the lids from peanut cans, they make great mixing palettes and are not affected by solvents (also gives me a great excuse for eating peanuts). Another thing that comes in handy sometimes is the kind of plastic tray you get with TV-dinners. I don't use them much for model building, but they make great parts bins when you, for example, disassemble things like carburetors, guns or anything else that contains a lot of small parts. Once you're done, you can either clean it up or just throw it away. Yet another favorite is tackle boxes, they are pretty cheap, come in all kinds of different sizes and configurations and they sure help a lot to keep the itty, bitty stuff organized. I have several of them, containing everything from model building tools to electrical connectors. It sure beats having everything stuck in a drawer or piled on the workbench.

We have three dogs and at least ten cats (haven't counted lately) so I don't want to use up the bandwitdh by showing them all. Can't resist showing this picture though, our cat Enok taking a nap on the couch. Ain't he cute?

Have you ever seen an old parachute? I don't know what they're made of nowadays, but I have a piece of a German WWII parachute and it's made of the thinnest and finest silk fabric I have ever seen. Of course, there aren't too many German WWII parachutes around, but some surplus stores sell cheap GI parachutes (usually just canopies with the cords cut off). It might be something you could try, it would be a shame not to use that frame. The best thing about it is that you don't have to worry about screwing up, there's enough fabric in a parachute for several attempts.

I haven't done much resin casting at all, but I did try the Alumilite kit a while ago. One thing I learned is that resin and rubber has a limited shelf life even in unopened containers, and that special and expensive products like this can sit in the hobby store for a looooong time. The rubber was pretty much useless and it took a long argument with "Ms. Blank Stare" at Hobby Lobby to explain this and that they needed to replace it with a fresh kit. I also pointed out that they had some other kits that had been sitting there for two, three years (their price tags have the delivery date on them) and that they probably needed to be discarded. She said that she would do that, but a week later I found them in their bargain bin... Long story short: Buy from someone who sells a lot of it and doesn't let it sit and go bad, or at least from someone who can guarantee that you'll get fresh stuff. In any case, it seemed to be very easy to work with and I got some pretty good results despite the fact that I hadn't worked with resin in 15 years or so. Just a few weeks ago, I won a Smooth-On kit at the model show in Cookeville, so it will be interesting to see if there is a difference. One thing I still have to figure out is how to make bubble-free molds and castings without vacuum or pressure...

Yeah, that wagon is cool! Is it a complete kit, or do you have to use a donor for the chassis?

Look again, Walmart usually carries sets of three and they are marked "clean", "condition" and "shine" ( http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?...uct_id=10414122 ). I use them for model building, but have also found that they are great for doing trigger jobs on guns so I buy them quite frequently.

Straight black is often "too black" for modeling purposes and as already mentioned, you can mix it with other colors and change the sheen to get a more realistic "rubber", "vinyl" or whatever you're trying to simulate. I don't have any recipes for the colors though, I kind of eyeball it every time, add a few drops of this and that, test paint etc. until it looks right. As a matter of fact, I don't think the actual color is all that important, a small variation in the colors is what really makes an engine compartment or a chassis look detailed.

I have had the same experience as Scott and others: BMF doesn't turn bad with age. I'm sure you can handle and/or store it in a way that makes it turns bad (too cold, too hot, too humid or whatever) but I don't believe it will just go bad after a certain time. I bought a big batch (20 sheets or so) of BMF chrome when a store closed and sold out, and about 15 years later I'm still using it without any problems. Granted, I have moved three times since then and some sheets have wrinkles and cracks just by being handled, packed, transported and shuffled around in general, but there's still nothing wrong with the adhesion. However, I have had problems with other, fresh sheets (gold, aluminum and black) and have heard so much about bad BMF that I'm leaning toward the quality control theory. When BMF works, it works very well so if they can produce a good, even quality there shouldn't be any need for improved formulas.

I have tried the "grain of wheat" bulbs, and they are pretty simple to install and wire. The problems I saw were the heat and the life of the bulbs. You don't change bulbs easily in a model, so if I try it again I'll go with LEDs. I have also tried fiber optics, just some simple plexiglass rods with a regular light bulb in the trunk. To make this work, I had to build a box with a removable bottom to contain the light source (you don't want any stray light shining through anywhere) and make it possible to change bulbs. This installation wasn't optimal either, as the bulb generated a lot of heat and would probably have damaged the body if I had left it on for too long. Many years ago, I saw ads for some kind of illuminated sheets in the model magazines (I believe the ad showed a model of the starship "Enterprise"). You could cut it into smaller pieces, connect wires and the whole thing would light up. I think it's the same material that's used for the illuminated signs you can buy for model railroads, but I haven't seen the ads lately and haven't been able to find it anywhere. Does anyone know if this material is still available?

Thanks for posting the pictures! I was in a hurry leaving the house so I forgot to bring my camera (doh...), so I sure appreciate it!

I went with a door too, a large, solid core door with a 2x4 frame on casters, with drawers underneath. Mine doubles as a woodworking bench, so I covered the surface with a sheet of white masonite as it's easy on the tools and cheap to replace if you mess it up. It's nice and bright, and paint, glue and other goo can be scraped off quite easily. My favorite tool is probably the airbrush, I'm so used to it by now that it would be totally impossible for me to build models without it. I love my Dremel as well, and I also like those small, simple things that make live so much easier. The sprue cutter is one of them, and the sanding sticks (the cheap kind women use for their fingernails) are great too. One very handy thing that you probably can't buy in the stores is my multi-purpose aluminum block. It's just a perfectly flat and square 10x20x30mm piece of aluminum that a friend and fellow model builder machined for me many years ago, and it's very useful as a sanding block, scraper, bending jig, straightedge, spacer and about a hundred other things. I can't remember what I had in mind when I asked my friend to make it, but it has become one of the best and most versatile tools in my collection. Thanks again, Roger!

Just for the record: This is actually not the original Camaro concept. It was created by Kris Horton, a young, independent designer who is not affiliated with GM at all. He showed this rendering on the Team Chevelle message board (I believe he was only 19 years old back then!) before GM's Camaro concept was even known to the public... it was probably not even started yet. You can see more of his work here: http://www.carsbykris.com/1600site/index.html BTW: His Camaro looks way better than GM's abomination...

I have noticed the same thing. Many finishes seem to be way to glossy to be realistic in 1:25 scale, and the bling and glare gives it that toy-like appearance. I have tinkered with this for a while, and have used duller finishes for engine compartments and interiors for quite a while. I guess it's a matter of opinion, but it looks much more realistic to me. The same thing goes for colors: The brighter they are, the more toy-like they will be.

I'm definitely planning to go. I'll be the one dressed like a slob and with a Swedish accent.

Humbrol #53 "Gun Metal" enamel works for me. I pick up some of the thick sludge from the bottom of the can, and stipple it on with a stiff brush. It gives you a nice "cast iron" texture that can also be weathered with some rust pastels, if necessary.

Seems like you had a lot of nice models there! BTW, do you have any info on that P1800?

Very nice, as usual!

That looks great! I have been experimenting with different ways of making those hoses but have never been able to make one that looks as good as yours. You might want to try thinned Plasti-Dip instead of that Contacta stuff next time. I used this to make a wire harness, and it came out pretty good. You can thin it to the consistency you like, and it will give you a nice, even coat that is also very flexible and durable. I couldn't even scrape it off with my fingernail, so it was very easy to install the harness without damaging it.

That looks great so far! And an old Hilborn shotgun injector would look right at home on that supercharger, IMO.

I don't find it hard to believe at all, I have used Testors enamels for decades and find them very easy to work with. But whether it's enamel, lacquer or acrylic, black is a pain to get right and I must say that you did an excellent job on the paint!

Some of those finishes, and I believe Sophisticated Finishes is one of them, contain real metal powder and they can be a bit lumpy when the pigments settle. You can probably stir it to get rid of the clumps, but it will still give you a pretty rough textured finish. The ones I have tried (sorry, can't remember the brands) looked a little bit too rough for 1:25 rust, IMO.

Yes, that's one of the colors it came in. I have got one blue resto project and one white that's unbuilt, and I believe I have seen it in red as well. Not sure about the red though.

This is a family oriented forum so I can't tell you... Seriously, it's a template you use to draw different curves: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_curve

Marcus, I sent you a PM with some info. Hope it helps.